Fire-box-arch construction



May 29, 1923.

G. C. DENNEY FIRE BOX ARCH CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 26

ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 29, 1923.

are,

GUY CABLETON DENNEY, OF IIINSDALE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN ARCHCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

FIBE-BOX-ARCH CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed November 26, 1920. I Serial No. 426,348.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUY CARLETON DEN- NEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Hinsdale, in the county of Du Page and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Box-Arch Constructions, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates "to refractory arches for boiler fire boxes andparticularly to such arches as they are applied to standard locomotivefire boxes equipped with circulation or arch tubes; i

It has for one of itsprimary objects the provision of means whereby itis possible to greatly increase the adaptability of arch bricks of agiven size to various tube settings in which the distance between tubesmay substantially vary within reasonable limits. Stated in other words,it is the object of my invention to provide means whereby an archcomposed of a plurality of bricks of a uniform size can be applied to orsupported by a plurality of tubes the distances between which may not beuniform.

Another of the objects of my invention is the provision of aconstruction whereby all possibility of distortion of'the circulationtubes due to the wedging action of cer tain bricks more particularlyside or wing bricks, is eliminated.

More specifically stated, my invention contemplates the provision of aplurality of supporting 'members for the bricks of the arch which areinterposed between the tubes and the bricks, each member being adaptedto rest upon a single tube and being constructed with a tube engagingsurface and with a brick supporting surface, the latter of which canswing about the tube'to one side or the other of the vertical so as tobring it into proper-position for support of a brick in cases where thetube spacing is less than or greater than the normal distance for whichsuch brick is intended.

It should be noted that my invention is particularly useful inconnection with an arch, the bricks of which are intended to be laidfiat u on the tubes and in which each brick spans the distance betweentubes. Such an arch is now well known in the art as a Security arch andmy invention is illus trated in the accompanying drawing in associationwith an arch of this character.

The foregoing objects, together with such other objects as may appearhereinafter or are incident to my invention I obtain by means of theconstruction illustrated, wheresheet 1, fine sheet 2 extendingdownwardly into the throat sheet 3, the inside back sheet 4, the outsideback sheet 5 and'the two inside side sheets 6 and 7. A plurality ofcirculation or arch supporting tubes 8 connect the forward water leg 17with the rear water leg 18, fourtubes being illustrated. The usualaverage distance between said tubes in many typical fire boxconstructions is 16", as indicated at the right in Fig. 2.

This distance, of course, may vary'slightly in different tube settings,and ordinarily such small variations are compensated for by the inclinedsurfaces 9 on the center bricks 10. Wing bricks 11 extend from the outertubes to the inside side sheets as shown. A construction such as shownin this figure with the bricks resting directly upon the tubes hasheretofore been standard practice. Should'the distance between any twotubes be substantially increased or decreased, it

has heretofore been customary to compensate therefor, either by the useof larger or smaller bricks or by replacing the single bricks 10 withpairs of smaller bricks between the tubes arranged in arched relation,with their inner ends resting against each other. In accordance with myinvention, I overcome the necessity for such modifications by theprovision of means whereby a center brick of a given size, such, forex.- ample, as that illustrated in Fig. 2 which for convenience istermed a 16"brick. may be adapted for use in connection with a 15" or'a17 tube spacing as well as a 16" spacing. It will be understood, ofcourse, that these dimensions are merely arbitrary; for it will bereadily apparent that the same principle could be appliedto bricks andtubespacings of other dimensions.-

In Fig. 2 it will be seen that the tubes are variously spaced, thedistance between tube 8 and 8 being 17 that between tubes 8 and 8 andthat betweentubes 8 and 8 16 as indicated. In this figure I haveinterposed between the tubes and the ends of the bricks a series ofblocks which I have termedsupporting members or saddle bricks '12. Thesesupporting members are provided with a tube engaging recess or socket 13in their lower faces and with a curved brick supporting portion andsurface 14 on their upper faces. Both of :these surfacesco'nfonm to thecurvature of the tubes and they are struck from centers which place thebrick supporting surface directly above the tube engaging socket orsurface 13. By "tilting the supportinglmember 12 on the tube. 8 towardthe-left it is possible to move the brick supporting surface 14sufficiently toward the tube 8 and away from zthe tube 8 to make itpossible to employ bricks 10, of thesame size as those illustrated inFig. 3, to span the 17;space between tubes8 and 8 land the 15" spacebetween tubes :8 and 8'", as clearly shown in 'thedrawing; this means aif) brick, for example, can be accommodated to a 17". or a 15" tubespacing as well as to a 16" tube spacing. The bricks 10 are pro-- videdwith a support engaging socket :15 at the end (opposite the inclinedsurface 9 and it will be obvious that-lthissocket tor recess 15 willrsnugly lit the brick supporting surface 14 on the member 12 "whethersuch member-be vertically disposed as on the tubes 8, 8 -:and 8 orinclined as on the tube "8 'l he body {portion of the member 12 belowthe bricksupporting portion or surface 14 is cut away or sloped as at soas'to leavethe portionlt free lflanked, and obviate interference withthe lower surface of the bricks rest directly on the tubes and the outerends againstthe side sheets, and, especially where such bricks are largeand heavy, there is sometimesa tendency :to "distort or bend the tubesdue to the -wedging action between them and the side sheets. This*wedgin giaction becomes greater as thepla-nes of the wing bricksapproach more closely the horizontal. But, where myzimproved supportingmembers or saddle bricks are used an'd' the inner ends of the wingbri'c'ks are supported thereon, shown in Fig. 2, the force o-f whateverwedging action there may be will 'not' be exerted in a vstraight line directly on the tubes .but'on the upper portions of the saddle bricks,which latter-will tend to rotate slightly until a condition more nearlyapproaching equilibrium is reached between the force exerted by the wingbricks and that "exerted by the adjacent center bricks on the oppositeside of a given tube. Possible distortion or bending of the tubes isthereby eliminated I claim 1. In a locomotive tire bok having spacedarch supporting members, an archcomprisin'g brick supporting members onthe arch, supporting "m emb ers and bricks sp ann ngthe distancebet-ween said arch supporting memv,

bers andrestin'g on saidbrick supporting members, each of [said bricksupporting members being provided with an \arch supporting memberengaging surface and a brick supporting surface, the arch supportin'gmember engaging surface 'penmitting movement of the: bricksuppontingmember.

to change the position of the (brick -supponting surface whereby spaceszo-fdilfi erent di= mension between-arch supporting members canbe-spanned by bricks rof onersize.

2. In :a locomotive 'fi're box'ha'vin-g *zcirculation tubes, thecombination with an :arch composed of :a plurality of bricks supportedthereby, of supporting members for said bricks 'havinga brick supportingsurface and a tube engaging-surface, :said tube engaging surfacepermitting the supporting Imeniber to swing on the-atubeso asto vary the'p'osition of the brick supportingsulrifiace.

8. In a lOCOIIlClllVB'ifiIlG bOX havingspac'ed arch supponting' members,the wcombination with an arch "composed of a plurality of bricks, ofsupporting members for. said bricks having a brick supporting -.surfaceand a support engaging surface, said latter surface permittinglmo'vementwof thereupporting surface whereby 7 bricks (of one size canbe accommodated to varying spaces Ebev tween the arch supportingmembers.

supporting tubes, of an arch composed of a plurality of bricks, andsupporting members for said bricks with tube engagingsurfaces permittingthe members to swing on vthe tubesxand :arch brick-engaging surfacesfree with such swinging.

flanked to obviate interference of the bricks 5. In a locomotive lirebox havingar'ch supporting tubes, the combination with an arch composedY ofa plurality of -bricks, fof supporting members for the bricksadapted H1110 4:. In a firebox, the conibination 'with' sarch tobeinterposetl between the tubes Yth'e ends ofthe bricks, each ofsaidsupporting members being provided with :a 'tub'e engag mg recesspermitt ngitito assume varying".

angular positions on the tube and each ham ing a brick supportingsurface "which substantial-ly corresponds to the surface oif ther tubein -cuwa ture whereby bricks ofene size can be accommodated to varyingtube spacings.

-6. A supporting member for the bricks of a tube supported locomotivearch having a tube engaging surface and a brick supporting surface, bothof said surfaces being substantially semicircular and havingsubstantially the same radius as the tube and the tube engaging surfacebeing adapted to permit the supporting member to be swung on the tube tomove the brick supporting surface to one side or the other of the tube.

7. A. supporting member for the bricks of a tube supported locomotivearch having a tube engaging surface and a brick supporting surface, thebrick supporting surface being arranged substantially directly over thetube engaging surface and the tube engaging surface being constructed topermit the supporting member to be swung on the tube to move the bricksupporting surface to one side or the other of the tube.

8. A supporting member for the bricks of a tube supported locomotivearch having a tube engaging surface adapted to permit the member toswing on the tube, and a free flanked brick engaging surface movingsidewise relatively to the tube as the member swings, and adapted to thevarying angular relations of brick and-supporting member 13 entailed bysuch swinging.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my nam e. GUY CARLETONDENNEY.

